Costa Blanca X

A spin-off of the Costa Blanca clothing chain, Costa Blanca X is nothing but accessories. They have gloves, purses, evening bags, belts, jewellery and shoes. Everything in the store is reasonably priced. Jewellery starts as low as $8 and shoes are priced at $30-$40. They have great metallic flats in a variety of styles and they carry up to size 11!
Locations are few and far between (TD Sqaure, Calgary;
Square One, Mississauga; Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough, to name a few) but judging on how busy the store I visited on the weekend was, more locations should open up soon.
www.costablanca.ca for further store locations

Eclectic Closet Random Thoughts & Pondering

Janelle Martin probably reads more books in one week than the average person reads all year. Her informative and honest book reviews will help you to decide which books to take with you on vacation and which ones you probably shouldn’t. Her book reviews are divided into fiction, non-fiction, chick lit, mystery and young adult. There’s also something for you knitters out there. Janelle is a seasoned knitter as well as an avid reader and has posted many reviews on knitting books.

Trove

Trove is a cute clothing, shoe, purse and jewellery boutique located in Toronto's Annex. They also have a gallery and offer customers the chance to meet the artists. On Thursday, October 25th from 6-9pm artist and outdoorsman/adventure guide Jeff James will be there. Drop by to view his paintings and meet him in person.
Bonus: all shoes will be 15% off, but just for this evening.
791 Bathurst St, just south of Bloor

Jeanne Lottie Sample Sale

The Jeanne Lottie sample sale will take place at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Main Floor on October 27 10am-4pm and October 28 10am-3pm.
Shoes, handbags and accessories will be discounted up to 80%.
16 Minthorn Blvd, Markham; call 416-975-5115 for more information

Last Minute Halloween Preparations

Don't forget Party Packagers has opened a Halloween Extreme Superstore at Dufferin Mall. This is only a temporary location until October 31st. A great place to go for costumes and decorations.

H&M's Next High-End Designer

All of you vixens with cavier dreams and a KD budget rejoice! H&M's next "designer line" is by super sexy (his clothes anyway) Roberto Cavalli.
The line will be available Thursday, November 8th at the Bloor and Eaton Centre Locations in Toronto, Coquitlam Centre in BC, and Rockland Centre in Montreal. You can look forward to flowing dresses and his signature animal prints. Get there early so you can get your size!

SEPHORA

Calling all cosmetic and beauty junkies in Toronto! You will now be able to get your fix at a new downtown Sephora location. My sources say they officially opening is November 2nd, but their phone/voice mail is up and running so keep your eyes peeled in case they open early.
131 Bloor St (east of Avenue Rd)

SALES GALORE

Jones New York Fall Warehouse Sale October 25th - November 4th. Enjoy savings of up to 80% off with prices starting as low as $9.99 on a large selection of brands including Jones New York, AK Anne Klein and Nine West. Petite, Missy and Woman sizes available.
388 Applewood Cres, Vaughan, ON Hours: Mon–Wed 9am–6pm, Thurs–Fri 9am–9pm, Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–5pm

Eddie Bauer's Annual Warehouse Sale starts this coming week. Huge discounts and a great variety of quality clothing and gear for the entire family.
201 Aviva Park Drive, Vaughan, ON, Hours: Oct 19 to 28, Mon to Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon to 5pm.

The annual Hadassah WIZO Bazaar takes place Wed October 24th. The Bazaar is back for another year of great brand name fashions at a fraction of the retail price. Name brand jeans can be bought for as little as $7 and purses start at $5. There is a $4.00 entrance fee (children 5 and under are free).
Exhibition Place , Direct Energy Centre, Hall B, Toronto, ON
Hours: Wed, October 24, 9am to 7pm

The Toni Plus Warehouse Sale continues until Oct 21st. Pick up plus sized clothing at up to 90% off. They have brand names such as Ellen Tracey, Jones Woman, Spanner and more.
1140 Sheppard Ave. W., Unit 16, North York, ON, Hours: Oct 17 to 21. Wed to Sat 10am to 7pm, Sun 11am to 6pm.

New Winners Location in Downtown Toronto

Winners is opening a new downtown location at 35-45 Front Street East in the St. Lawrence Market area on Tuesday, October 16. Doors open at 8 a.m.
The store is located on the south side of Front Street, just west of Church.

Oxford Mills Outlet opens in Mississauga

Now you don't have to travel to Kitchener to get great deals on linens and towels. Oxford Mills is celebrating their grand opening in Mississauga today, Friday October 12th. Some of the deals they're offering - queen matress pads starting at $16.99, comforters and duvets covers 20% off and Harmony towels priced from $2.63-$18.39.
5120 Dixie Rd, Unit 12, Mississauga

Kitchener Textiles Ltd

This is another great store I visited while in Kitchener. From the outside it looks very small and non-descript, but once you step inside you'll be amazed by all the colours and selection. Beautiful fabrics in every print, colour and price range imaginable. You could spend hours browsing all the tables of good quality fabrics and just as much time deciding which ones to buy. My favourites had metallic dragonflies or butterflies on them and came in 2-3 different colours. They have a small section of children's prints and like most stores they have started to receive their Christmas stock. Check out their fabric advent calendars (which you assemble yourself) with little pockets to fill with trinkets and treats.
131 Strange Street, Kitchener ON 516-743-3391

Smart Set

Smart Set has reduced the prices even further on their remaining summer merchandise. Some of the great deals available: jean mini skirts for $9.99; wrap tops $14.99; lightweight long sleeved sweaters $22.99; dress pants $34.99; knee length checked shorts $19.99 - these can be carried into fall when paired with tights and the new cropped jackets.

Lingerie Sale

Super Seller Inc offers brand name lingerie at 25% off the regular price. But now their lease is up, so they're offering even bigger discounts on all of their stock. Choose from names such as Champion, Papillon Blanc, Chantelle, Jockey, Dim and Cosabella. Not only do they offer bras, underwear and lingerie, they also carry socks, nylons, wigs and cosmetic accessories (sponges, nail files, etc).
474 Yonge Street, just north of College

St. Jacobs Factory Outlet Mall

A friend of mine always has great outfits on when she comes to visit. When I ask her where she bought it her reply is almost always “the Jones New York outlet in Waterloo, you should come visit me sometime and we’ll go there.” So I finally hopped the bus to Kitchener and met up with her for a visit and a day of shopping at the outlet mall.
I can’t believe I waited this long to go! Where to start?

Jones New York Factory Store – regular, petite and plus sizes available. They already had lots of fall/winter stock in and reduced by at least 40%. The first time reductions aren’t bad, but the clearance section at the back of the store is even better. There were 2-3 racks of summer items marked way down but they had also started extra price reductions on their fall items. I pretty much liked everything I saw in this store. The casual tops were all made of super soft jersey, the pants were beautifully tailored, there was a variety of jacket styles to choose from and the colour palette was rich and vibrant.

Kodiak – men’s and women’s rugged apparel. I only checked out the women’s wear in this store and was impressed with the super cheap prices of their end of summer items. They had sleeveless t-shirts marked down to $7 – great for outdoor exercising or yoga class! Some of their early fall stuff was also marked down, such as ¾ length and long sleeved t-shirts in a variety of colours for a mere $13. It’s a fairly large store well stocked with lots of merchandise.

LEGO – if only to see the dinosaur made entirely of Legos or the life-sized Batman. This store carries Lego, Duplo and Bionicles. Most of the Lego is sold in sets/kits, but they do have a small selection of bulk Lego if there are specific pieces you need to complete your set. The Duplo blocks came in handy storage buckets in a variety of sizes. The 128 piece zoo bucket was $24.99 and the 405 piece bucket was $32.99. I was amazed at all the different sets Lego has to offer. They had everything from Sponge Bob, to Spiderman to Hogwarts Hall.

Liz Claiborne – regular, petite and plus sizes available. I was disappointed with this store in regards to their marked down prices - still rather high for my liking, but the selection of clothing didn’t disappoint. Lots of great items for fall/winter in wonderful colours. Unfortunately they don’t have a clearance section, but it’s worth stopping in to check out the purses.

Oxford Mills – the place to go for towels. They also have bed linens and bathroom accessories, but the real reason you shop here is for the fabulous prices on towels. You can get towels in every size, colour and quality here. At the lower end you can find fingertip towels for $1.69, facecloths for $0.99 and bath towels at a very reasonable $6.99. Their luxury line is also reasonably priced with bath sheets selling for $15 or less. You can pick up great bath mats starting at $7.99.

Tootsies Factory Shoe Market – I’m not a lover of loafers but the purple leather ones they had for $39.99 were fabulous. I could have easily expanded my shoe collection by shopping just at this store if it weren’t for my size 10 wide feet. Tootsies has something for everyone. The women’s section is quite large and the men’s section is a good size too and a small children’s section can be found at the back. Definitely check out the women’s slipper section; lot’s of styles and colours to choose from starting at $7.00. They also have a small clearance section.

Some other stores of interest: Corningware Corelle, Paderno, Royal Dalton, Reebok and Rockport
25 Benjamin Rd, Waterloo ON

Bits & Bites

No time to post anything substantial today. Was away last week and still need to report on my excursion to Kitchener.

Marks Work Warehouse has women's dress boots at great prices. The "Emma" high stretch boots look great with skirts and dresses and are priced at a reasonable $49.99. For those on the hunt for short boots to wear with pants, you can choose from the "Amika", "Monika" or "Paula" models also reasonably priced at $39.99 each. All models come in black, with some available in brown . Bonus - wide sizes are available in most styles.

Cotton Ginny has all their summer stock on sale with the further enticement of buy one get the second 1/2 off the sale price.
They are also offering buy one get the second one half price on all new fleece.

Spent an afternoon at Dufferin Mall. They never stop putting work into this place. It's cleaner, brighter and better than ever! Some stores of note: Le Chateua - nice sized store with men's, women's and accessorie sections; Cotton Ginny - regular & plus sizes as well as their reintroduced baby organic line; Reitmans - regular, plus, petite and petite plus;
You'll also find The Children's Place, Winners, Payless, Aldo & Aldo Accessories, Pennington's, Fairweather, Moore's, Pinstripe, Costa Blanca and many more.